It would seem that for all exam boards, or at the very least AQA, there have been changes to the manner in which exams are remarked.
- 'Change the way exam boards review their marking and moderation of GCSE,AS and A level assessment so errors are corrected, but marks are otherwisenot changed.'
- 'Make sure any errors in marking GCSEs, AS and A levels are found and
corrected, in a way that is fair to all students.'
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525982/Decisions_on_marking_reviews_and_appeals__grade_boundaries_and_the_Code_of_Practice.pdfWould anyone be kind enough so as to perhaps try and clear it up as to how they would go about 'correcting errors and yet not changing marks'? Is it that I have not understood the wording of it?
OK, I was at a conference about exams yesterday with Ofqual so have a fairly good idea of the changes - we'll be putting them together in an article or similar over the next couple of weeks to let everyone know.
In the past, remarks were conducted by senior examiners who remarked the script in question and their mark stood. There is now an acceptance by Ofqual that mark schemes can sometimes give rise to slightly different but equally valid academic interpretations and there may be cases where there is no absolute 'correct' mark for a candidate. The boards have been told that, from summer 2016, marks should not be changed in these instances, they should change only where the mark schemes has been interpreted incorrectly by the original examiner i.e where an error has been made.
Would everyone's grades be changed following remarks from now on so as to increase the grade boundaries and thus perhaps drop some people at the limit of a grade into the previous grade? That is what I understand from making the remarks fair for all students, although I really do not think that is what they meant.